Past events

We ran cookery demonstrations at Fremington to over 30 women with Instow and Barnstaple Women's Institutes - November 2014.In October 2014 Brilliant Fish was atTawtock Women's Institute, presented a
Community Cooking session at Bideford Arts Centre and at Whiddon
Valley Community Centre,held a Winter Sustainable Fish Supper at Westward Ho!, ran a cookery session at South Molton and a Fabulous Thursday Fish demonstration in Appledore.

Fish on a Budget at Bideford College 7 May This
class looked at using less popular summer fish: we prepared red gurnard
with celery, apple and walnuts, megrim fish and chips, smoked pollack and mushroom lasagne and a hot squid salad. Students could prepare and taste all recipes and take a dish home.

Delicious Summer Fishat Pilton College, 8 May we prepared recipes with scallops, plaice, smoked mackerel and mixed fish thermidor or grey mullet with avocado riata. Preparation of fish was demonstrated and
students repeated the cooking of all the dishes including two plaice recipes and red white and green scallops. We ended with a
taster supper and all students took home a dish for two.

Also at Bideford College -

Fish 4 Easteron
3 April looked at preparing international traditional dishes
and seasonal dishes for the holiday such as seasonal pollock gravadlax.

11 April we showed a film on fishing in Clovelly, with a quiz, basic fish preparation and cooking for simple lunch.

Salt Cod tasting
and talkwas held on 22 February
at Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford, Devon.

Cod fishing
on the Newfoundland banks was a very extensive activity for hundreds of years, with
fishermen from Portugal, Norway and also from North Devon travelling to fish off
the Newfoundland Banks of Canada’s east coast.

Salt Cod or Tow Rag was sold from Boyles grocers shop in Appledore and the two
fishmonger shops in Bideford until a few years ago. The salt cod was always
displayed outside the shop in Market Street.

15 people joined us to look at why and
how the cod was dried and salted. They also sampled recipes from Portugal and Norway, where salt cod
dishes are viewed as national dishes, and local recipes were enjoyed: including a salt cod patemade with olive oil, garlic, parsley and cream.

Fish on a Budget at Bideford College on 7 May. This
class looked at using less popular summer fish: we prepared red gurnard
with celery, apple and walnuts, megrim fish and chips, smoked pollack and mushroom lasagne and a hot squid salad. Students could prepare and taste all recipes and take a dish home.

Delicious Summer Fish at Pilton College, 8 May. We prepared recipes with scallops, plaice, smoked mackerel and mixed Fish Thermidor or Grey
Mullet with Avocado riata. Preparation of fish was demonstrated and
students repeated the cooking of all the dishes including two
Plaice recipes and Red white and green Scallops. We ended with a
taster supper and all students took home a dish for two.

Also at Bideford College -

Fish 4 Easteron 3 April looked at preparing international traditional dishes
and seasonal dishes for the holiday such as seasonal pollock gravadlax.

Friday 11 April 10am-2pm DVD on fishing in Clovelly, with quiz, basic fish preparation and cooking for simple lunch.

Salt Cod tasting
and talkwas held on February
22nd at Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Kingsley Road, Bideford, Devon.

Cod fishing
on the Newfoundland banks was a very extensive activity for hundreds of years, with
fishermen from Portugal, Norway and also from North Devon travelling to fish off
the Newfoundland Banks of Canada’s east coast.

Salt Cod or Tow Rag was sold from Boyles grocers shop in Appledore and the two
fishmonger shops in Bideford until a few years ago. The salt cod was always
displayed outside the shop in Market Street.

15 people joined us to look at why and
how the cod was dried and salted. They also sampled recipes from Portugal and Norway, where salt cod
dishes are viewed as national dishes, and local recipes were enjoyed: including a salt cod patemade with olive oil, garlic, parsley and cream.

Festive Fish 14 December at Orchard Learning Studios, Gunnislake, Cornwall.A fun filled day exploring the delights of fishy treats for the festive season

European Fish Dishes using Local Fish5 November Pilton College, Barnstaple.We looked at the "Fish Buyers Guide" for information about seasonal availability of a wide range of fish caught locally. A demonstration of boning round fish i.e. herring and sardines was followed by practical sessions both to try fish boning and to prepare a range of interesting simple dishes from Lapland, France and Crete. (Two recipes: Lapland Fish Pot and Smoked Mackerel Cassoulet are featured on our Recipe page.)

Ten
students from Barnstaple and surrounding villages attended this evening class
held at Petroc College. The class looked at which autumn fish would caught in North Devon. Several of the
students being fishermen we also discussed various methods of catching fish
locally.

Fish identified
included: mackerel; sardines and sprats; plaice, dab and flounders known
locally as flukeys!; smoked haddock, whiting and pollack. Preparations
demonstrated were: mackerel; round fish gutting and filleting; sardine cleaning
and scaling of a whole flat fish; preparation and smoked fish skinning.
Students then worked in pairs to clean and scale a sardine as well as gut and
fillet a mackerel. Everyone worked brilliantly and produced fillets and
prepared sardines ready to make into an interesting dish.

Our Taster
Menu:

Cullen Skink-a
soup made with smoked haddock, whiting and pollack

Fresh mackerel fillets with
apricots

Mackerel with caramelised apple and a crème fraiche and cider sauce

Sardines with a redcurrant glaze

Mediterranean dabs (Jamie Oliver recipe for the Fish Fight.) made with dab, flounder
and plaice.

We then
served all these dishes and enjoyed a tasting session -all
students tasted several new fish.

Brixham Fish Stock Demonstrations and Smoked Fish Stall

On 7 September Felicity Sylvester
demonstrated lobster preparation and the lobster mojo al ajo sauce on
the Fun Kitchen Stage and Crab and Courgette Quiche on the main Cookery
Kitchen in the Brixham Fish Market.

On both stages a lobster hypnotism was shown and on the Cookery Kitchen at the end of the day a 12lb Lobster was hypnotised. Members of the audience were able to have a go and two members of Storm Band who appeared on the Music stage were taught! Hypnotising a LobsterA large audiance really enjoyed the demonstration and recipe sheets were distributed.

Supported by the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Sustainable Development Fund.

2012Learn to Love Fish

Over 50 people from North Devon and beyond attended our first Laver Day in December. Laver is local seaweed that goes black after the first frost in October and is eaten on both sides of the Bristol Channel; Brilliant Fish served a delicious ALL DAY BREAKFAST made from local produce which included laver sausages and laver bread. We also put on cookery demonstrations, talked about picking laver and sourcing local fish, and showed the film "A Maese of Herring". Local produce stalls sold laver, Clovelly herrings, smoked fish as well as crafts. Other displays featured North Devon Coast AONB information and an exhibition of Appledore Laver Girls by Mary Myers, of Northam Studio.

A Community Herring Lunchin Appledore on 9 November was held for 20 people, with a film and talk on Clovelly Herrings and aLocal Fish Stall where we gave out more than 50
recipes sheets!

Stories from The Water Babies were enjoyed by an audience of 30 at theAppledore Book Festival-Family DaySunday 25 September withCornish Storyteller, TrevorLawrence and the Appledore Fishwife, Felicity Sylvester

Fish tastings were held after the show! & recipes from BRILLIANT FISH given out

A Cornish Fish Lunch was held onFriday September 30inLaunceston's Central Methodist
Hall.There were 3
courses: starters of smoked mackerel or smoked salmon paté with crusty bread
and a salad garnish followed by: Viv’s fish lunch of smoked haddock and pollack
cooked in a cheesy sauce served with creamed potatoes or pasta, and peas.

Seasonal Fish Lunch at the Fish Dock Kitchen in Appledore held 26 August

Our Summer Celebration Lunchon 1 Julyat the Fish
Dock Kitchen, East Appledorewas enjoyed by27 people with many taking part in our new ‘Know your fish Quiz’. The winner received a prize of a cooked and dressed lobster.

On the menu was a selection of summer fish, followed by local cheeses and organic fruit. Brian Steele, the owner chef from
Yeoldon House Hotel showed how to prepare Seafood Tartlets.

The meal was: Crab Cakes with black salsa
or Brilliant Fish Smoked Trout rolled in parsley and nuts starters
followed by a choice of Coley Korma, Stuffed Baked trout or Jamie Olivers
Mediterrean Dabs. Everyone finished their meal with a selection of Cornish Cheese and
local fruit all supplied by B&N Farm foods.

On 3 & 4 Junewe took part in the Appledore Summer Festival - with lobster hypnotism, a free cookery workshop and food tastings as well as a fish supper.

On 6 May 6 in Appledore, North Devon – at the
‘Fish Dock Kitchen’ we held a Celebration Lunch with 30 people enjoying local fish
dishes. This was a reunion of the Appledore ‘Fish Cookery Club’ that was founded 20 years ago!

Fish cookery club 1992

Fish Club visit to Rick Stein's restaurant, Padstow September 1992

Viv Foster, Felicity Sylvester, Mary and John with Ann Burnham at Westcott Barton in the 1990's

Demonstrations of simple ideas for using seasonal fish and shellfish, were held 30 April at Pete and
Sons fish stall at the Bideford Pannier Market.Lunch featuring Jamie Oliver’s
Fish Dishes was held 15 April, Launceston Central Methodist Hall.

At Bere Ferrers, Village Hall on
26 February we held a fish cookery workshop attended
by five
people. Afterwards, 16 people enjoyed a fish supper- soup, starters and main
course, followed by local grown strawberry and apple crumble and gooseberry
fool.